Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-29


the crowd had disappeared. We were
alone on the veranda, where travellers
generally slipped their coffee. l ordered
two glasses Of Madeira, and after tasting
I siis the old fellow commenced as follows:
~ must begin by telling you that
jacques Florent, whom you have just
noticed, and who has married go well, was
born in this neighborhood. We used to
see him, when quite small, going TO the
parOchial school, his sachel on his back,
and his hands in his pockets. He was
civil, well bred youngster When he met
one he would politely doff his cap, and
when school was dismissed he would
never loaf about the streets instead of
+ going home. His mother, VINO manages
I. small farm near by, would take him to
school IN the morning when she came to
town TO sell the milk OF her cows, and
then would call Tor him in the evening on
her way home. She was widow. and
worked hard to bring her son up properly.
On his side, little Jacques worked hard
also One year he won so many prizes
that he could not carry them all Then
his mother determined TO send him to col
lege. She found no sacrifice too great in
order 10 obtain the means of paying for
his board and lodging. She would arise
an hour earlier in the morning and 90 TO
bed later at night, while all day long she
would toll ike a slave. Poor Mother
Florentl How she did move about II
those days, Luckily it was not long
before the youngSter was able to provide
for himself. He first won a scholarship
here, another at college, still another
in Paris at the Ecole Centrale, where ne
stood at the head OF his classes.
He must be a phoenix, Them
81 don't know about his being a
phoenix, but one thing certain is, that,
like his mother, he is hard worker, and
by working hard one always gets on.'
4 agree with you there
well, TO cut the story short. he sue
ceedtd In Paris, during three years, he
faithfully attended to his studies, while
be gave lessons here and there and by
this means made money enough to meet
his smaller expenses. At last he passed
his final examination successfully, and,
with his diploma III his pocket, he re
turned home. His good reputation had
preceded him, and on his arrival VI. Bon
durand offered him a situation in his
wooden mills"
'Ah; yes. NowI understand about the
marriage. But how about those two that
you were laughing about a while ago?
Where do NJ. de Vauviliain, the baliif,
and NJ. Chapuis, the landed proprietor,
come in;''
Hold on, you go too fast. In placing
Jacques FlOrent at the head Of his factory
". Bondurand had not the least idea of
letting him wed his daugh .er-neither did
Mime. Bondurand, assure you"
Then Mile. Celeste's marriage took
place against their wishes"
Never in the world. .
Il don't understand it at all, then"
"That is not surprising You don't give
nae time to explain things. YoL may
well suppose thar, with her fortune, Mile.
Celeste, who is a charming young person,
rs you may have noticed yourself, and
who was brought up rs princess, had no
end Of admirers. Every winter Nine.
Bondurand's paTlors are thronged with
the best society OF the town, and at her
receptions the richest and most distin-
guished people are to be net. Being an
engineer, Jacques was invited. He never
failed to attend, but he always remem-
bered his place, while Messrs. Chapuis
and de Nauvillain paraded III the first
ranks, letting It be known that they were
in love with Nile. Celeste. ] believe,
though, that they We're only in love with
her dowry. Each made up his mind to
win the prize at any cost, and the conduct
OF both was in strict accordance with this
determination. The strangest part of the
whole proceedings was that neither at
tempted to get into the good graces Of the
young lady, who always treated them
with marked GOODNESS.
Singular lovers, those"
They imagined that Mile Celeste, be-
ing good girl Of very docile disposition,
she would always comply with her parents
wishes. So they proceeded to lay siege to
the old folks Nj Chapuis. by displaying
an interest in NJ Bondurand's business
affairs, had no trouble in winning him
over, while NJ. De Nauvillain, by means
Of his nobility, and by putting on the airs
of great lord, succeeded in getting the
mother to espouse his cause to such an eX-
tent that, in a short time, she promised
him her daughters hand, while, on the
other side, her husband was making the
same promise to his rival. .
And of course Mile. Celeste protesteG?'
Not at all She let things take their
own course. It happened that she had
occasionally danced with Jacques Florent
The Young engineers quiet, serious
character ard his easy. distinguished man
ners soon impressed her. One day he
spoke of his mother of her devotion to
him, of the graft. ude and affection that he
bore her. This proved to the young lady
that his heart was in the right place.
JACQUES. on his side, felt himself more
than interested in the beautiful and sweet
girl that had so kindly paid attention to
him. but rs he knew her to be very rich,
his dCmeanor was always SO respectful
that no word OF love ever passed between
them
And Sill
''Of course everything had TO come out
all right in the end. Here is the natural
winding up OF The comedy. The first time
that Nj and Nine. BondUrand communi-
Gated 10 each other their designs in regard
10 their daughter there was a terrible
row. Just think. Monsieur wanted Chap
us for his son-in-law. Madame could
not bear him; he was q baboOn. a China
man, a mi<er. He was ugly. deforned,
ii bred. badly dressed, unkempt and ri
d!cuIous. Madame wanted de Nauvillain,
whom monsieur held in holy horror. \
snob, a talker, boaster, BOBBY an ass;
noble, ii was true, but wretched beggar
who depended entirely on his situation"
They could not agree, them"
COT course not 'Vauvillain. never
exclaimed NJ Bondurand. 'Chapuis,
replied his wife. IN die first.
1t was At this point that Mile. Celeste
took a hand in The game. she told her
father that she loved NJ Jacques Florent,
that v. Fioren1 loved her. and that she
would be his wife or else she would marry
de Nauyillain. She said the same TO her
mother, only the conditions were; jacques
or Ch2rius. Neither hesitated. In order
TO set rid Of the one each hated so much,